Free picks · Mac
Best free writing apps for Mac (2026)
Every pick is listed under Writing in our directory, runs on a Mac and is completely free or has a free plan. We rank them by our rating and popularity, then favour tools made mainly for writing and apps built for Mac.
Short answer
The best free writing apps for Mac are LibreOffice, Handy and Hugo, the top three of 44 matches in our directory. 8 of the 10 picks are completely free and the other 2 have a free plan; 8 are open source.
Updated
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
At a glance
Counted from the top 10 picks, except the total.
- Matching tools
- 44
- Completely free
- 8
- Open source
- 8
- Work offline
- 8
- Native apps
- 8
Comparison table
“Free plan” means a free tier with paid upgrades. A dash in Licence means our directory does not list the tool as open source.
| # | Name | Pricing | Platforms | Licence | Why pick it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LibreOffice | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Open source | A free, open-source office suite for your desktop: Writer, Calc, Impress and more. |
| 2 | Handy | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Open source | Offline speech-to-text that types what you say into any app. |
| 3 | Hugo | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux | Open source | Build a website from plain files with one of the fastest static site tools. |
| 4 | Pandoc | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux, Offline | Open source | A universal document converter for Markdown, Word, PDF, HTML and more. |
| 5 | MuseScore Studio | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux | Open source | Free music notation software for writing and printing scores. |
| 6 | ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Open source | Free desktop editors for documents, sheets, slides and PDFs with native Office formats. |
| 7 | DeepL | Free plan | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome | — | An AI translator known for natural-sounding text and document translations. |
| 8 | LanguageTool | Free plan | Chrome, Firefox, Web, macOS, Windows, iOS | — | A grammar, spelling and style checker for more than 30 languages, with a free plan. |
| 9 | MarkEdit | Free | macOS, Offline | Open source | A tiny, native Markdown editor for Mac that feels like TextEdit. |
| 10 | micro | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux | Open source | A friendly text editor for the terminal that works the way you expect. |
Why each pick made the list
Every reason is taken from the tool's own listing: its categories, platforms, features, rating and pricing.
Our top Mac pick, rated 4.5/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here), is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 1. Tagged open source: number 1 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Complex Word and PowerPoint files may not look identical
Number 2 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.7/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here), is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here) and has AI features (3 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 2. Tagged open source: number 2 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Larger models need a capable CPU or GPU
Number 3 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.7/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 3. Tagged open source: number 3 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Command-line tool with a learning curve
Number 4 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.8/5, the highest here. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows, Linux and Offline. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 4. Tagged open source: number 4 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Command line only
Number 5 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.7/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 5. Tagged open source: number 5 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Takes time to learn the shortcuts
Number 6 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.5/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 6. Tagged open source: number 6 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Fewer extras than Microsoft Office
Number 7 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.7/5. Runs on a Mac, and also on Web, Windows, iOS, Android and 1 more platform. Its listing says it has AI features (3 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). It is not in the Linux top 10 (not listed for Linux). Not tagged open source.
Watch out for: Free version limits text and file translations
Number 8 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.6/5. Runs on a Mac, and also on Chrome, Firefox, Web, Windows and 1 more platform. Its listing says it has AI features (3 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). It is not in the Linux top 10 (not listed for Linux). Not tagged open source.
Watch out for: Free plan limits how much text it checks at once
Number 9 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.6/5. A Mac app that runs on a Mac, and also on Offline. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here), is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). It is not in the Linux top 10 (not listed for Linux). Tagged open source: number 7 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Mac only
Number 10 of 10 for Mac, rated 4.6/5. A desktop app that runs on a Mac, and also on Windows and Linux. Its listing says it works offline (8 of 10 here) and is easy to pick up (7 of 10 here). On our Linux list it is number 9. Tagged open source: number 8 on the open-source Mac list.
Watch out for: Not as feature-rich as large editors
Running these on Mac
Counted from each pick's listing type and platforms.
- By listing type, the 10 Mac picks are 7 desktop apps (LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc and 3 others), 1 AI tool (DeepL), 1 browser extension (LanguageTool) and 1 Mac app (MarkEdit).
- 8 of 10 are apps you install on a Mac, and MarkEdit is made specifically for Mac; the other 2 are web or cloud tools listed for Mac.
- Every Mac pick here also runs somewhere else. DeepL reaches furthest, on 5 other platforms besides Mac.
- 2 of 10 also run on iPhone and iPad, so the same tool can follow you between Mac and iPhone; LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc and 4 others do not.
How this list compares
The same search on other platforms, and the other price filter. Only the differences are named.
- Free writing apps for Linux
7 of these 10 Mac picks also make the Linux top 10. 3 are on this list only: DeepL (not listed for Linux), LanguageTool (not listed for Linux) and MarkEdit (not listed for Linux). In their place the Linux list has FocusWriter, Subtitle Edit and MarkText; FocusWriter and Subtitle Edit are not listed for Mac.
- Free writing apps for iPhone
2 of these 10 Mac picks also make the iPhone top 10.
- Free writing apps for Android
1 of these 10 Mac picks also makes the Android top 10.
- Free online writing tools
None of these 10 Mac picks makes the Web top 10.
- Free open-source writing apps for Mac
Want code you can inspect? 8 picks of 10 here are tagged open source; the open-source Mac list ranks 26 such tools, led by LibreOffice, Handy and Hugo.
More matches
34 more free writing apps for Mac in our directory; the next 20 by our ranking are below.
- MarkText · Free
- Quarto · Free
- VSCodium · Free
- Blurt · Free
- Grammarly · Free plan
- WPS Office · Free plan
- Zettlr · Free
- ChatGPT · Free plan
- Hemingway Editor · Free plan
- Marp CLI · Free
- Typst · Free plan
- mdBook · Free
- OpenWhispr · Free
- Scribus · Free
- Vale · Free
- Zola · Free
- Jan · Free
- ProWritingAid · Free plan
- Harper · Free
- PDFgear · Free
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free writing app for Mac?
- LibreOffice is our first pick. A free, open-source office suite for your desktop: Writer, Calc, Impress and more. Yes. LibreOffice is free to use.
- Are these writing apps really free?
- Yes, every pick is free to start. LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc and 4 others are completely free. DeepL and LanguageTool have free plans with paid upgrades.
- Which of these writing apps are open source?
- LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc, MuseScore Studio, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, MarkEdit and micro are tagged open source in our directory, so you can read the code of each and, depending on the licence, self-host or modify it.
- Which ones work offline on a Mac?
- LibreOffice, Handy, Hugo, Pandoc, MuseScore Studio and 3 others are listed as working offline. The others need an internet connection for at least some features.
- Which are easiest for beginners?
- LibreOffice, Handy and ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors are rated beginner-friendly, along with 4 other picks. 3 picks take more time to learn.
- How many free writing apps for Mac are in the directory?
- 44 match: listed under Writing, available on a Mac and free to start. This page ranks the top 10 and names up to 20 more under More matches. The Writing category page has every listing, paid ones included.
Keep exploring
Wider lists
Related free lists
- Free open-source writing apps for Mac
- Free writing apps for iPhone
- Free note-taking apps for Mac
- Free writing apps for Android
- Free to-do list apps for Mac
- Free writing apps for Linux
- Free project management apps for Mac
- Free online writing tools
- Free time management apps for Mac
- Free AI productivity tools for Mac
Weekly newsletter
Everything new, every Monday.
One short email every Monday with everything shipped that week: new free tools and websites, new guides, new free browser tools and what's new in my free Gumroad libraries, plus how the site is growing. Free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Join the newsletterYou sign up on Gumroad, which stores your email to send the newsletter. See our Privacy Policy.